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There's nothing quite like a mother's touch. It's in the way their hands expertly trace your body, uncannily finding your weak spots and massaging them until they melt away.

It's the way they gently, but firmly, knead away your worries, one knot at a time.

And so it was when a Ripple massage therapist knocked at my door one Saturday afternoon.

It had been a particularly difficult week when everything seemed to go wrong and I could feel the tension in my neck escalate.

I had booked a two-hour relaxation package that included a full-body hot stone massage. And from the moment I laid eyes on my therapist, I knew it was going to be good.

The beauty of Ripple is that the therapist comes to you - bringing an arsenal of goodies along for the ride. And far from missing out because you're not face down on a table at a beauty salon where every tool is at their immediate disposal, you find yourself automatically at ease in the comfort and privacy of your own home.

Once my therapist had unpacked her table and prepared herself for our session, she asked me to fill out a form, indicating what I wanted to gain from the experience and noting any other issues concerning me.

Then, with the paperwork out of the way, it was time to begin.

She started the treatment with a peppermint and lime-scented foot soak, which is a great way to get your body to relax. The peppermint helps to rejuvenate tired feet, while the lime is a refreshing touch. I then stripped down to my underwear and lay face down on the table, wrapped cosily in a towel.

My therapist began with a full-body exfoliation to rid my skin of any impurities and to give it some pep. Ripple makes all its own body scrubs, lotions and oils and the exfoliation combination of choice this leisurely Saturday was a mix of walnut, tangerine and lime scrub.

Not only did it smell good enough to eat, I could feel the stress literally peeling away as my therapist used warm towels to wipe away the scrub.

With my skin feeling nice and supple, it was time for the main event.

Like a labourer on a job site, the therapist whipped out a bottle of silky oil from her “tool belt” and began lathering my body, one limb at a time.

She then retrieved the hot stones, which had been inconspicuously warming the entire time, and slowly, but with sure precision, ran the stones along my body.

She used them instead of her hands to massage my tired muscles.

I'm not sure if it was the stones or the way they heated the oil as they caressed my body, but within half an hour, I could feel my eyes start to close.

Unfortunately for me, I have a tendency to jerk recklessly awake once I begin to lull into early sleep.

But because my therapist had done such a good job of putting me at ease from the start, I failed to feel embarrassed when my body suddenly went rigid beneath her fingers.

As I lay on my back, the therapist began to perform foot reflexology: something my heel-worn feet thought was just like Christmas.

And what treatment would be complete without a facial?

Using an organic green clay and cucumber cleansing face mask, the therapist used careful strokes to apply the mask, which she said would help to make the skin on my face feel alive and refreshed again.

After about 10 minutes, she removed the mask with a hot towel before applying a moisturiser.

By this stage, time was irrelevant as my body learnt to appreciate when it was being indulged.

But like any good time, it had to come to an end and I somehow managed to roll off the massage table, re-dress and make small talk before sinking blissfully under my sheets for some quality snooze time.

The icing on the cake was definitely the beautifully packaged box of goodies my therapist left behind.